Top 10 Reasons to Implement Windows 2000 Now!

Windows 2000 is now a rambunctious toddler as it celebrates
its first birthday. I have ten reasons why you should
join the celebration and not only purchase but also deploy
Win2K in your organization today. Interestingly, these
reasons are not necessarily in the same order that I listed
one year ago introducing Win2K to the certification community
in MCP Magazine (see "Amazing
Feast! Windows 2000 on the Table" in the Dec.
1999 issue).

However, many of the reasons supporting the deployment
of Win2K last year are still valid today and will retain
validity tomorrow. This month I revisit the top ten reasons
for deploying Win2K, one year later. Let's get started.

1. Business Applications
Topping my list is an old-fashioned and somewhat staid
topic from any "Introduction to Computers" course: determine
your business needs first. Business needs typically manifest
themselves in expressions of business applications that
need to be deployed. How can this be, you ask? Am I not
departing from my primary thesis about tooting the Win2K
horn? Stick with me for a paragraph or two and I'll explain.

As a practicing MCSE consultant, I'm constantly reminded
that the "theory" I learned in management information
systems courses in college has become reality. In the
old days, when knights were bold and Microsoft blue cards
held all the gold, information system purchase decisions
were made based on the needs of the business. These needs
were often identified after extensive analysis performed
by a consultant. Initially, little regard was given to
the operating system or vendor (although there was an
important need to go through vendor qualification steps
as well).

Then somewhere along the way, many of us (including this
MCSE) became more interested in the operating system's
features and functions than the end results desired from
a business from its line-of-business application. From
the late 1980s through late 1990s, it was easy to get
caught up in the war of the day including Microsoft versus
Apple, or Windows NT versus NetWare. Our customers suffered,
to say the least.

Along came Win2K with some mysterious powers and a revamped
MCSE program that focused on business needs analysis.
Suddenly, business needs are back in fashion. I'm starting
to see a couple of things in the Win2K business application
area. First, more line-of-business applications are being
launched with the Win2K seal of approval, meaning the
software has been enhanced to exploit Win2K features and
functions. More importantly, business applications are
starting to integrate with Active Directory by modifying
the schema (database structure). This is done in several
ways including the Active Directory Services Interface,
an application programming interface (API).

Bottom line is that your application vendor will drive
you towards implementing Win2K. That is, as more line-of-business
applications become Win2K compliant, support for older
editions of your business software will dry up.

Simply stated, the business applications that are Win2K
will do more cool stuff, making this the most compelling
reason to embrace Win2K today.

2. More Stability
In my "calling it like it is" modus operandi this month,
I can attest that I'm having success introducing Win2K
Server to my customers based on its increased stability.
Blue screens of death (BSOD) are much fewer and far between.
It's hard to recall a BSOD since the commercial release
of Win2K (I did see a couple back in the beta test period
in 1999, but all is fair in a pre-release version). I
think this is one of the best reasons to implement Win2K.

3. Fewer Reboots
Closely related to the above point, but coming in third
in my Win2K top ten list, is fewer reboots. I don't have
to come into the office late at night to perform a reboot
or disrupt people because I've absolutely got to reboot
at mid-day (much like I found myself doing back in the
Windows NT days - ouch!).

4. Active Directory
Slipping down to fourth from first (from my top ten list
last year) is the much-promoted Active Directory. Don't
get me wrong, I'm a big fan of AD. I like the replication
capabilities so my critical "database" of user settings
and system configuration information is stored in more
than one place in a multiple domain controller (DC) scenario.
And I like that the physical limitations on domains have
been removed (allowing my clients to typically operate
with a single domain). Goodbye complex trust relationships
and hello organizational units (OUs) which have largely
replaced the need for many domains (especially resource
domains).

But accolades aside, the momentum for AD is still in
its infancy. AD is complex and people are still learning
it and thinking of ways to use it. My prediction? Look
for AD (see Figure 1) to return to the top of my list
next year when it's absolutely the rage in the MCSE community!

Figure 1. Active Directory Users
and Computers snap-in is one of the most popular ways
to interact with Active Directory. (Click image to
view larger version.)

5. Group Policy
Something that is moving up and gaining serious momentum
is Group Policy. Group Policy is the ability to automate
the administration and configuration of your Win2K network
by performing several functions including Win2K Professional
policy-based configuration (e.g. the ability to lock down
a workstation), install software and manage user settings.
It is surprisingly powerful and very much a welcome friend.
Since Group Policy only works in the homogenous Win2K
networks (the client workstation must be running Win2K
Professional), I believe that Group Policy (shown in Figure
2) is the "killer application" that is driving much of
the success of Win2K Professional, thus earning a place
in the top half of my list this year.

Figure 2. Looking at Group Policy
and its many capabilities.

6. Terminal Services
Coming on strong in Win2K is Terminal Services. Terminal
Services is one of those areas where a picture is worth
a thousand words. In Figure 3, you can see that the inside
window is a Terminal Services session where the user runs
a full Win2K session remotely.

This is known as a remote host approach, where only the
delta screen changes are passed on, not all of the network
traffic. This allows the Terminal Services user to enjoy
a fast computing session without necessarily being present
and attached to the network (inside of the four walls
at the office). There are several popular uses for Terminal
Services including the ability to work from remote locations
over the Internet and enjoy full network capabilities
at seemingly high-speeds and the ability to use thin clients
such as the WinTerm clients (basic monitor, keyboard and
mouse without a CPU box). My favorite use of Terminal
Services is the ability to perform remote administration
on my client's servers from many miles away!

7. Hardware support
A favorite, worthy of the top ten list, is the increased
hardware support found in Win2K. I'm seeing this on several
fronts. Starting with the initial installation of Win2K
Server, I'm now longer hitting the F6 key nearly as much
right after the first setup disk runs in character-based
mode to add unsupported RAID and SCSI controller drivers.
That is a joy as Win2K Server supports many more controller
cards than Windows NT.

Equally important, the automatic and accurate device
detection has become a fast friend of mine. This means
that you don't need to run some convoluted setup program
on a manufacturer's drivers diskette followed by a reboot
or three.

The Hardware Manager in Win2K (see Figure 4) is very
much like the Hardware Manager found in Windows ME/9x
and it's a very welcome addition from the Windows NT days.

Figure 4. Hail to Hardware Manager
in Win2K. Truly this is another cool tool. (Click
image to view larger version.)

8. VPN support
Not that you couldn't do this before, but the ability
to create a virtual private network (VPN) connection is
not only easier between locations with Win2K but I'm finding
it's much more stable. I now have clients running mission
critical network connections between offices via a VPN
connection in Win2K. Cool!

Caution: When you configure
the server-side VPN capabilities using the configuration
wizard in Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS), note
that this wizard believes the server will only be used
for VPN activity when it comes to remote communication.
It has a nasty way of shutting down other port openings
you might need to Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration
(ISA) Server. Ouch!

9. Wizards
I've always been a fool over a pretty face and thus I
can express my endearing love for the wizards in Win2K.
Each time I turn the corner in Win2K, I'm seduced by some
sexy wizard or another. Can Win2K be configured without
wizards? Yes, but I prefer the ease of administration
afforded by the extensive collection of wizards in Win2K.
And for that reason, wizards make my top ten list this
year. Whenever possible, use the wizards! A Win2K wizard
is shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. There are wizards for
nearly every configuration task in Win2K!

10. Improved relations
My final pitch to you on implementing Win2K today: The
doggoned thing just works better. As an MCSE consultant,
I'm finding my client relations are improving when I implement
Win2K. And with fewer late-night site visits to reboot
servers, my family relationship is stronger to boot!